2-Minute Review

Let's cut through the noise, and get to the crux of it. 18+ Expert Reviews analysed and summarised by the PhoneCurry Editorial Team, in a short and sweet 2-minute review.

Design

The design follows on from the previous generation of iPhones - with the same excellent build quality, Apple's famed attention to detail, and beautiful aesthetics - in fact, the phone looks almost identical to the previous generation of the iPhone

Splash, and water resistant

No big changes in design from the last two iPhone versions

The design is starting to show its age, as competing phones squeeze a 5.5-inch screen into smaller, sexier bodies

The Jet black version is a fingerprint and scratch magnet (so, use it with a case)

The new click-free home button takes getting used to because there's no mechanical click when you press the home button

Display

Excellent, large display, improving a bit over the previous iPhones with a "wide color gamut" screen and enhanced color accuracy

Software

iOS 10 is excellent and now makes more sense out of 3D Touch, enhances the lock screen and allows third-party integration with Siri and Maps

Of course, iOS also has an industry-leading software update program - you are guaranteed to get all iOS updates in the next few years as soon as they are out

Performance

Phenomenal, top-tier performance backed by the new A10 chip, beating Samsung's flagship phones for instance by a significant margin in benchmark tests (although in practical terms, you might only notice the speed on some intensive games and the video and photo-editing apps)

Also adds extra RAM on top of the iPhone 7 setup (3GB vs 2GB) making it more future-proof

Camera

Excellent front and rear cameras - this is Apple's best camera phone to date, and pushes the envelope to offer great results

The camera is a also a step up over the iPhone 7, with a dual rear camera setup delivering a true 2x optical zoom, and with an exceptional bokeh mode to come via a forthcoming upgrade

The front-facing FaceTime camera has been bumped to 7 megapixels now, and it looked great for selfies or videos

Audio

Enhanced (louder, and now stereo) speakers

Good audio quality

Very good call quality

The missing standard (3.5mm) headphone jack on the phone means that you won't be able to easily use your regular earphones with the iPhone now (though compatible EarPods come included in the case, as well as a Lightning-to-regular-headphone adapter dongle)

Battery

Very good battery life - lasts an hour longer than the previous iPhones 6S Plus

Lacks fast charging support (which is now present on most of the Android flagships)

More

Much improved haptics with Apple's updated "Taptic Engine"

On the whole, while there are significant changes from last year's iPhone 6S Plus, but they may not be thrilling enough to warrant an upgrade